Bady's Live Report Thread from Tokyo Feb 2024: ZERA, XANVALA, DIAURA, & Deigan

[badymaru]

I was inspired by GreatNorthernVK’s live reports from her trip last year so I wanted to share my recent ones in return. I have never been great at remembering song names and have a notoriously bad memory so mine will be far less detailed, but I hope they will be interesting nonetheless.

So! My partner and I decided to go on a last minute trip to Tokyo from California last week, which conveniently happened to coincide with some special lives of my favorite bands. We got there the night before, and my plan was to go to Family Mart and pick up tickets for the 3 lives I (originally) planned to attend, but I was 1 hour too late to get the first one (they close ticket sales 24 hours before) and the 3rd one wasn’t showing up on the machine for some reason, so I was only able to pick up a ticket to Zera’s 5th anniversary live. No problem, I’m not expecting any of these lives to sell out.

Live #1: ZERA x XANVALA 2MAN 『XARA』@ Ikebukuro BlackHole

Zera is my favorite band, and XANVALA is another one of my top favorite bands, so this 2man was a dream concert for me. I ended up buying a ticket from someone off Twitter with an okay number, but I was also bringing two friends with me who were buying same day tickets, so I ended up going in with them towards the very end. I still ended up getting a good center spot with a great view of the stage because BlackHole isn’t very big.

Zera went on first. Because it had been so long since I’ve seen them (almost a year and a half), I was worried that I had built them up too much in my head, but as soon as Hisui came on stage and started singing, it was like falling in love with them all over again. Their songs have such a spooky and melodic sound combined with the hard guitar and drums perfect for headbanging that it just checks all of my boxes. Their outfits were the new ones from their upcoming single “Uncanny Valley” and they spent some time talking about the inspiration behind them. Hisui insists that he is not a sea urchin despite the copious amount of spikes, and is instead a bug eating plant called Nepenthes rafflesiana. Minagi is a butterfly and Ryu is a snake. The two support members (Kanta from DEVILOOF, and a Guitarist named KIRAN) were wearing all black / a ZERA hoodie. This was my first time seeing Zera since Aqui had retired earlier this year, so I’m unsure if KIRAN had played support for them before, but he was very smiley and engaged with the crowd a lot, which I found endearing. Kantaman was in the back being incredibly animated and silly as usual. Hisui’s costume is very grandiose and ornate, with a lot of plastic spikes and long flowy sleeves that create such cool movement during the show.

They played a bunch of my favorite songs, like Barmy Army, The Ship of Ice, Marionette Parade, Kakumei no Masquerade, This is xxx (they’re my favorite band for a reason ). As they were getting ready to start the last song, there was a long pause, and eventually Hisui and Minagi had to go back behind the drums because the computer wasn’t working correctly. During this time they forced Ryu to speak at the microphone to keep us occupied and he proceeded to struggle the entire time because he didn’t know what to say, haha. Eventually he decided to say something about how it had been 3 years since the last time they had a 2man with XANVALA, but Hisui and Minagi reappeared shortly after to save him. They ended up having to change the last song because of the computer mishap, but I don’t remember which song it was that they played instead of Parasite It was a bummer because Parasite is their WoD song, and I was really looking forward to hearing it.

Between the sets I ran over to Zera’s merch booth and grabbed 2 Hisui cheki. I was trying to stay on a budget this trip, and I knew I would be buying more tomorrow. I pulled my 2 cheki and lo and behold, the second one was signed! Zera doesn’t sign many cheki in my experience and hearing from my fellow gya, so I feel incredibly blessed.

XANVALA came on next and they are just so much fun from start to finish. Their songs are also very headbang heavy like Zera’s, but their music has a bit more of a dancy/jazzy vibe in my opinion. Tatsumi is a great frontman, and very engaging with the audience. They played MY BLACK which is one of my favorite live songs from them. Towards the end, he invited Hisui onstage with him and they talked a bit, but most of the MC was Tatsumi trying not to get pricked by Hisui’s outfit, and Hisui pursuing him endlessly

Hisui stayed on stage for the next song, CREEPER, which has a Wall of Death in it. It’s nothing like the WoDs we have back home in the US, but it’s still really fun and involves a lot more bumping around into your fellow concert-goers than the typical furi I’ve encountered at lives (other than gyaku-dai). I find it entertaining because everyone diligently returns to their original spot afterwards, whereas in the US, many people use WoD and pits as an opportunity to move around to a different spot.

Clip of CREEPER featuring Hisui posted by XANVALA:
https://x.com/XANVALA/status/1887132300217082361

After XANVALA’s last song, the venue intercom informed us that there wouldn’t be an encore, and I rushed over to the merch table. The last 2 times I saw XANVALA I didn’t manage to buy any cheki because I didn’t figure out the reservation system, but this time I was prepared! I went up and showed them my reservation email and they gave me a little bag with my 2 preordered Tatsumi cheki inside. I also ended up buying 1 random XANVALA cheki because they had them available and I picked up a cool looking 70., which I apparently forgot to include in my photo.

Next will be Zera’s 5th Anniversary live

[VKloner]

Is showing the setlist after the concert a new thing among Japanese bands? I love it!

And did you pay for your ticket from twitter face-to-face? I was scammed previously though twitter cos I assumed no one would bother scamming with Dir en grey tickets as a lure

[badymaru]

I’m not quite sure how long posting setlists has been a thing, I only started paying attention to them closely when going to Japan for lives more often around 2023. I did some quick research and it looks like DIAURA started posting their setlists on twitter around 2018, so maybe it started becoming popular around that time?

I’m sorry you got scammed for a ticket! Yeah I bought mine face to face. I bought a few tickets this trip, and what I would do is search on twitter the morning of the live, and then DM someone who had a paper ticket and was offering same-day handover at the venue. Then about 30 minutes before doors, we would meet in front of the venue and I would hand them cash and they would hand me the ticket. I like doing it that way (if I haven’t bought my own ticket in advance) because that way I’m guaranteed a physical ticket for my scrapbook, and it usually saves a little bit of money compared to buying a day-of ticket because those are marked up 500 yen.

[VKloner]

Thanks for the elaboration. With Japan being a high trust society, not surprised that the seller didn’t ask for payment upfront but still, the risk is entirely on the seller’s end if the buyer plays her/him out. For my case, the seller asked for payment upfront and then disappeared. From the profile, the seller’s most likely Chinese.

In the end I bought the tickets off ticketcamp and attended the concert anyway.

[badymaru]

Live #2: ZERA’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration Oneman 『Fifth Bullet』 @ Ikebukuro BlackHole

A 2man of two of my favorite bands followed immediately by the anniversary live of my favorite band? This is why I came.

I originally was planning on using the B14 ticket so bought from Family Mart two days before, but that afternoon my Zera gya friend said she had a smart ticket A44 that she could sell me for 3000 yen. I jumped at the chance to get a better spot, and we figured out a way for me to use the ticket from her phone. Next trip I plan to set up a phone number and make an eplus account, it will make things more convenient.

I’m normally not the gift-giving type, but I was already bringing candies for my friend, so I brought an extra box of Reese’s Pieces from back home to give to Hisui as omiyage later since they seem to be rare in Japan. I ran by Daiso for some simple gift wrap and then waited at the nearby cafe until I met with my friend to go line up by the venue. We also met with a friend of hers, who remembered seeing me from the 2man the night before. Once we got inside, I ended up with a 5th row center spot with a great view of the stage. I was right beside my friend’s friend (we were both Hisui fans) and we talked for a while before the show, while my friend found a spot over at Minagi’s side.

As soon as the show started, Kantaman (support) comes out in all black as usual and heads back to his drums, but this time KIRAN has a full costume, matching the aesthetic of the rest of the band. Nice! Looks like he isn’t just support anymore. Hisui comes out and they go straight into PURGE, which is one of my favorite songs, and one that has a lot of sentiment to me. It’s the era where I got to see them live for the first time, and I finally gave in and recognized them as my top favorite band.

They played a few more songs and then had a MC where they formally announced that KIRAN was joining the band and asked us to welcome him warmly. Then they played their upcoming single ‘Uncanny Valley’ for the first time for all of us to hear. There was a part in the middle where Hisui does a short rapping part that I was blown away by. I wasn’t expecting that at all.

They played a few more of my favorite songs, including Lemmings, ever, Majrus, Reaper, Kuro yori mo kuraikuro, and finally Parasite! Parasite was an instant fave as soon as the MISSA single dropped, and when I learned that they started doing a Wall of Death during the live performances, I had been dreaming of the day I finally got to see it. Halfway through the song Hisui motions for us to part the room and he sings to the empty center of the room before we finally get to crash back in. This WoD was a bit stronger than the one last night with XANVALA. I hope Hisui was proud of us (though you’re still unlikely to come away with any bruises like back home).

I remember thinking that the concert overall was pretty light on MC other than the one where they introduced KIRAN, so if they ended up saying anything else of note, I don’t remember it . The setlist overall had almost 0 overlap with the day before, so I got to hear the majority of their discography live over the course of 2 days which was awesome.

As soon as the last song ended, I grabbed my stuff and got in line for merch, where I bought 2 more Hisui cheki, 1 Minagi cheki (I had an extra Ryu cheki from a previous live and I like to keep my numbers even), and 1 KIRAN cheki to celebrate his debut. I also got 2 smartphone 2shot tickets. The KIRAN cheki I pulled was drawn ALL over. Dude used like four different colored markers .

Then I went and got in line for my 2shots with Hisui. The last time I saw them live in 2023, I got a 2shot ticket on accident and wasn’t prepared at all. I was barely able to speak 2 words to the man . This time I made sure I was prepared. I told him my Japanese isn’t great, but I was going to try my best. Then I gave him the gift and said it was omiyage from California, which he accepted (“Itadakimasu”). Then I asked him to recreate the pose we did during our first 2shot, and for the second one I asked his recommendation, to which he suggested “Hug” It turned out great, but he had to apologize mid-pose because his outfit has like a thousand spikes. I said it was fine (they’re bendy, not sharp). Then after the photos I got to tell him that Zera is my favorite band, and that I think his voice is amazing. He said my Japanese is jouzu and then I stumbled over my words to say goodbye Overall a huge W.

After the live, my friend and I went out for drinks and food with her friend and the friend’s friend. This was my first time doing after-live drinks because I normally go solo, and it was really fun! Zera dropped the music video for Uncanny Valley while we were there, so we ended up watching it together on mute at the table.

Next is DIAURA with Kei’s birthday live

[rukarukaruka]

Good thread! So detailed. Can’t wait for more!

@VKloner

seller asked for payment upfront and then disappeared.

Sorry that happened to you.

Was the scammer selling above or below official price?

Were there any other red flags? I’ve done the upfront online payment thing a few times with digital tickets but never been scammed, but maybe i’ve been too trusting as well.

From what i’ve seen on twitter the scammers usually use in-demand, sold out shows as bait.

[VKloner]

It was slightly above the official price (10k yen for a DEG gig) but it was sold out and there were no sellers on ticketcamp that is selling it at anything less than 18k yen then. Red flags wise, she was also selling 1 ticket to IU’s concert in Korea on twitter as well, which I pegged as her being well travelled but now know otherwise. Seems she chose those mid-tier famous artistes but can still sell out venues. Her twitter is full of retweets from kpop artistes, which I reckon is a front to make it look legit.

[badymaru]

Live #3: DIAURA Kei Birthday Celebration「dictatorial【K】ingdom X」 @ Spotify O-WEST

DIAURA is the band that reignited my love for visual kei after a few years of being kind of checked out, so they hold a special place in my heart. I’ve only seen them live once before, so I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to see them again. I was curious how different this show would be compared to the last time I saw them, which was for yo-ka’s birthday show in 2023. (spoiler: it was almost like seeing two completely different bands)

I had trouble finding this show on the Famiport machine earlier in the week, which meant it was time to go back to twitter to buy a paper ticket. I ended up getting one with an okay number for 1k under list price, but I ended up going in the venue about 50 ppl late because I didn’t realize they were doing cloak outside the venue until right before my number was called . I grabbed what I thought was a decent spot around the center left (Shouya’s side), but when the girl in front of me came back to her spot, I realized she was almost perfectly blocking my view of yo-ka. Oh well, it means I can spend more of my time appreciating Shouya’s cool
basslines.

As soon as the curtain opened, we noticed that Kei was wearing a full-body bunny suit. Or at least we thought he was. Moments later I hear some commotion from my right side and I look over to see the real Kei walking through the crowd just a few people away from me as he makes his way toward the stage. That was cool. Once he got on stage, we got a good look at his outfit, which was a blue pilot’s uniform with gold star detailing. The concept of the live was a starry night sky, and the stage was decorated with clouds hanging from the ceiling, and lots of sparkly lights to look like stars. The other 3 members were wearing silver puffy jackets.

They started off by playing Kiseki no Yoru ni, which I believe is a new song written by Kei specially for this live. It was very bright and energetic sounding, and the person in the bunny suit stayed on stage to guide us in some simple furi for it. The setlist overall was very light and beautiful, in stark contrast to when I saw them last for yo-ka’s birthday.

In the middle of the live Kei brought out an acoustic guitar and they did 2 slowed down songs with just him and yo-ka. Yo-ka’s voice is so magical, listening to him is an out of body experience. I truly don’t think he is human. Those two songs were such a special treat.

The encore started off with Mr. Isolation, which they famously drag on as long as possible to wear our necks out from headbanging . Halfway through the marathon they gave us a break and brought out cake and gifts to celebrate Kei’s birthday, but then we went right back into it. Then to close out the show they played Kei’s new song again.

Mini video digest posted by DIAURA on twitter:
https://x.com/diaura_official/status/1888905755576967409

As soon as the last song was over, everyone at the front of the stage RUSHED toward the exit to get in line for merch. The problem is, there was still a whole venue full of people between them and the door so we all ended up getting shoved out the door like sardines. I literally had to brace my arms against the doorframe at one point to keep from crushing the people in front of me. Not sure what that was about or how common it is, but I’d never encountered a merch rush like that before. Anyway, I went through the line and bought my 4 cheki and only got one dupe Kei. Since it was his birthday I easily traded it for a cute Shouya and I completed my set.

Next is XANVALA’s HOME Oneman

[badymaru]

Live #4: XANVALA “Ark” #2 HOME Prod. By 70. @ Urawa Narciss

I was originally planning on using this as a rest day, but XANVALA announced that they were doing 6shots for their mini-tour that started that night, which is something they rarely do. Plus, they didn’t play Honnou at the 2man, and I’ve really been wanting to hear that song. I guess I’ll rest some other time. I contacted someone on twitter who was selling a ticket for 2k under list price, and hopped on the train to Saitama.

They opened up merch sales 2 hours before doors, and I got a physical copy of their most recent album BANQUET, which I had been meaning to buy for a while. I added on some random lyric keychains they were selling just to get myself over the 5k threshold and earned my 6shot ticket.

Narciss is one of the more unique shaped livehouses I’ve been in. It’s really long and not very wide, with elevated levels to allow everyone in the back to have a chance of seeing the stage. My ticket number wasn’t too bad, and I ended up with a spot near the back of the first tier, against the right side wall (Yuhma’s side).

The concept of this mini-tour HOME, is that every show takes place in one of the members’ hometowns, and that live is produced by said member. This one was for 70. (Nao) who is from Urawa. He had multiple MCs during the night, and he spent time talking about growing up in the area, and coming to Narciss to see lives when he was younger and that he liked being able to play on its stage and share the experience with everyone (disclaimer that my Japanese isn’t super great so this is the general gist and I missed many details). He also talked about how he changed his hair back to red recently and asked how we liked it. Someone said it was cute, and he went back and forth with the crowd for a minute before he convinced us to say that it was cool too. Tatsumi said he and Yuhma both wore red eye makeup to match with 70.

The setlist was really fun, and maybe it’s just because I was paying attention more, but it felt like it had a lot of songs with fun basslines to give 70. plenty of spotlight. Towards the end they finally played Honnou! It’s another song that I had been looking forward to hearing live ever since it came out, and then even more after I started seeing them post live clips of it. The furi during the chorus is really fun, and I’m glad it lived up to my expectations. We did CREEPER with the WoD again, and I discovered that it seems to be XANVALA gya culture to apologize to/check on everyone around them after the song is over which was kind of sweet.

Overall, XANVALA lives are super fun, with a great mix of fun/dancy energy and headbanging, so I highly recommend people check them out if you’re ever given the chance.

Clip of Honnou and Seisen, posted by XANVALA:
https://x.com/XANVALA/status/1888208723187003851

After the live was over, I hopped in the 6shot line and made sure I was prepared, because they kept emphasizing that we only got 20 seconds. It was actually super smooth. I walked up and said hi, then sat down and told them what pose I wanted to do (double rock sign ) and we took the pic. Then before leaving, I told them that I came all the way from California to see their 2man with Zera (“Woah…”). Looking at the photo later, I realized that Souma chose to do his signature pose instead of matching with us The photo ticket asked us not to post the 6shots on social media so I get to keep that to myself, but I will leave you with a photo of the 70. poster in the Urawa train station.

Next (and last) is Deigan’s 2man with Jigsaw

[badymaru]

Live #5: Deigan & Jigsaw SUDDEN DEATH Ⅱ vol.2 @ Live House Shishio

I’ve been keeping an eye on Deigan ever since their first EP early last year, and I’ve become more of a fan with every release, so when I saw they were doing a show the night before I left, I knew I had to take this chance to see them. I reserved a pair of cheki through their twitter the day before, and then my partner and I headed over to Sugamo before the show. This was a free live, so we waited until about 15 minutes before doors, and then went and stood in line where a small group had gathered. At least part of the reason my partner came with me this time was to see if he could witness famous Wig Ojisan in the flesh, and he lucked out, because he happened to line up behind us wearing a jigsaw hoodie. There were about 30-40 people with actual tickets ahead of us, and we were probably one of the first 10 people let in for free tickets. When we got in, I grabbed a center spot in the 5th row and my partner grabbed a spot over on the side against the wall (he’s kinda tall and doesn’t like to be in people’s way/block the view).

Deigan went on first, and they were wearing their outfits from their new visual they just posted a few days ago. Rui is very expressive during songs, looking people in the eyes, grabbing people’s hands in the front rows and smiling a lot with an almost manic energy. It was great. Most of the MCs were done by guitarist Ten (who is SO pretty), but when Rui would talk, he would sit on the ground (I think with his back turned to us?) and mumble quietly into the mic. Most of what I remember Ten talking about was encouraging people to listen to and check out their music, since this was Jigsaw’s tour, and most of the people were there for them.

Setlist was great. They only have like 12 officially released songs, of which they played 8. I’m assuming Houtai will be their next single (it’s also the name of their visual), and Hitogata might be a b-side for it? Overall I think their music sounded even better live than it does on the recordings, because Rui really channels something, adding some extra flair. I was glad they played Paraiso, which is one of my favorites, and then Boku nante became one of my favorites, purely from the performance.

As soon as they finished, I headed over to Deigan’s merch table to pick up my reserved cheki and buy a 2shot ticket for Rui. Both of the cheki I bought (1 Rui and 1 Ten) were signed and personalized, which was very cute. Jigsaw was next, and I found a spot closer to the back near the door because I don’t know them as well. They started off with ABNORMAL WONDERLAND which is a song that I really like by them, but the rest of the songs I didn’t know well. Bukimi’s outfit was great, 10/10 no notes, and he’s super energetic on stage. The bassist Ema was really cool and kept giving a lot of attention to those of us in the back, so I think I’m his fan now One major thing I noticed was that Jigsaw furi was way more complicated than Deigan’s. They had multiple parts with custom moves specifically for their songs, which was harder for me to follow along as a newbie, compared to the more headbang-heavy bands I normally see. It was very cool to watch though, and I did end up nailing a few of them by the end.

After the show I went and waited in line for Deigan’s 2shots. When they let me in and led me over to Rui, the first thing he said to me was “Nice to meet you” in English. Very sweet. We did a quick pose for the photo, and then walked over to a table for him to sign it and for us to talk while it developed. I showed him my name on my phone so he could know how to spell it, and then told him I was visiting Japan from California. (“Oh, Long Flight?”) I said about 10-12 hours. He asked if I came for sightseeing, and I had to admit that I came to see lives of the visual kei bands I liked I ended up talking about how I like Deigan and their music, and that my favorite songs are Suisou and Humanoid. Rui called me out for liking ballads Hey I like headbanging too.

and that was the last live of the trip

[badymaru]

Last Thoughts

Overall the trip was a huge success, especially considering the fact it was planned only a week in advance. I got to go to Zera’s anniversary live, see a bunch of my favorite bands up close, meet a few of my favorite bandmen, meet a friend and make new ones, and didn’t go over my budget by much at all. I spent a total of 21,500 yen on tickets (including drink fee), and 29,000 on merch. (I spent too much money on pokemon cards, but that’s another story.) I have plans to go back again in the fall, but I probably won’t get to see as many lives because I’ll be sightseeing with friends, so I’m glad I got to have this quick trip. If you read this far, thank you, and I hope you found some of it interesting